Is there any one who still thinks Ethiopia's leaders have a trace of diplomatic civility? Let him/her think twice. If there are some who are still not convinced of the true nature of the TPLF by what it has been saying and doing so far, he/she ought to read what Ethiopia's Foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, said at the UN yesterday. Seyoum who was munificent throwing labels like "uncivil", "rude" and "disrespectful" at Eritrean leaders was yesterday afternoon foaming at the UN General Assembly meeting fully clothed in those very same labels he was liberally hurling at Eritrea not long ago. Indeed October 1, 1999 should be remembered in history as the day when the last piece of Ethiopia's cloth of pretense of "respect" and "regard" for international institutions fell off and Ethiopia was exposed butt-naked. Ethiopia's "civility" and "diplomacy", if there was any to begin with, was thrown out as Seyoum Mesfin attacked the UN Security Council, the IMF, the EU and other unnamed countries for not supporting his country's war of aggression.
UN Security Council Offense No. 1: Its Call for an Immediate Ceasefire
The Foreign minister condemned the UN Security Council not of anything else, but because it has and is calling for "an immediate ceasefire". Here are his words:
"And most regrettable the United Nations failed us. ... As if to underscore its failure to uphold the international rule of law the Security Council, in its very first resolution adopted on June 26, 1998 on the Ethio-Eritrean conflict demanded an immediate ceasefire."
What are we reading? The UN is being condemned for demanding an immediate ceasefire on a war that has claimed more than 70,000 people! Was this too much to ask? It has to be Ethiopia's arrogance to the fullest sense!
Be that as it may, what was Ethiopia's reaction at the time RESOLUTION 1177 (1998) came out? You guessed it right, Ethiopia's stand was totally different from that of yesterday's. A year and some months ago here is what was being said of UN Resolution 1177: "Ethiopia has accepted this resolution by the Security Council in its entirety". And for thirteen months, or at least until the OAU Summit in Algiers, "we accept all and every peace proposal and resolution" was Ethiopia's favorite line. Of course that was not genuine. All along Eritrea was warning of this. Unfortunately, no body listened and now they heard it directly from the lips of Ethiopia's undisputed dictator, H.E. Seyoum Mesfin. [Honestly speaking, until today I haven't digested the meaning of the name he chose for himself after he joined the TPLF. Seyoum Mesfin means "chosen leader", what a twisted mind!] If Ethiopia was declaring acceptance of world peace proposals and resolutions, it was meant for political expediency and a PR ploy. Not any more though. Time has shown the world that not only have Ethiopia's leaders developed a phobia for peace and are addicted to lying, but they are also suffering of a willful amnesia. They don't bother to remember what they had said or written. Here is what they had said of RESOLUTION 1177 (1998) at the time it was passed:
"Ethiopia has accepted this resolution by the Security Council in its entirety, without picking and choosing and with no Ifs and Buts Now that the Security Council has spoken in clear terms in support of the proposal already on the table, Eritrea should be denied all possibilities for creating confusion and should be required to implement the provisions of this important Security Council resolution without Ifs and Buts. On this depends whether or not the slim chance which might be available for a peaceful resolution of the crisis would be used properly. Here again, as it has always been since the beginning this crisis, the ball is in Eritrea's court."-July 1, 1998
What happened a year later? How did the tongue that praised UNSC RESOLUTION 1177 (1998) as a clear support for the OAU peace proposal now shamelessly turned around to condemn it? Is this what the Amharic proverb calls "band ras hulet mlas"? Yes, the Woyanes must have more than one tongue in one mouth, no wonder they have a BIG mouth. Again why is Ethiopia angry? It can not be because the UN supported Eritrea; we all know that not to be the case. They are mad at the UNSC because it committed a serious offense. According to Ethiopia the UNSC's call for an immediate ceasefire is a major crime. So much for Ethiopia's commitment to peace! Could it be that Ethiopian leaders do not understand the meaning of peace? It has to be.
By the way Ethiopia's praise of UN Security Council Resolutions didn't stop in June. Even as late as February 2, 1999, Ethiopia was praising later Security Council Resolutions. Read this:
"The United Nations Security Council on Friday 29 January 1999 adopted Resolution 1226 (1999) regarding the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Government of Ethiopia is encouraged by this latest position taken by the Security Council, which left no ambiguity with regard to what is expected from whom. Eritrea has been asked by the Security Council to withdraw from occupied Ethiopian territory and this is one of the central messages conveyed by the resolution. In giving its strong support to the OAU Framework Agreement by calling it 'the best hope for peace' and by calling for its 'full implementation without delay,' the Security Council has left no room for prevarication and spin doctoring by Eritrea."
Didn't we say they are suffering from a willful amnesia? If not, how could they make a turn around and reject the very resolutions they supported and denigrate the very body they lauded? If you are a Woyane every shame must be possible.
UN Security Council Offense No. 2: Its Concern for Ethiopia's Starving Masses
"Even more disheartening and gratuitous was the statement of 23 June 1999 by the Security Council reminding us of 'our primary responsibility to feed our peoples'. this was not what we expected from the United Nations today."
The foreign minister was furious at the UN Security Council for reminding Ethiopia to "feed its people". It is ironic that the UN is being damned for showing concern to the unfortunate 5 million sons and daughters of Tigray and Wollo who are at the brink of starving to death. What is disheartening is for a country's foreign minister to stand, without a shame, and condemn those that reminded his government to feed its people. What is uncalled for is to read a beggar being ungrateful to those who have been feeding him for decades. What is sad is also that the Ethiopian people are unfortunate enough to have leaders like Mr. Seyoum who have no compassion and concern for their own starving people. If Mr. Seyoum and Co. were doing their primary responsibility, that of feeding and caring for their citizens, instead of invading Eritrea and occupying Somalia, the UN Security Council wouldn't have had any reason to remind them of feeding their own. They didn't, people are starving to death, and they are throwing lavish parties at their Addis Sheraton, and responsible world leaders said, "stop the war and feed your people instead". For this they should have been thanked not condemned. In any case in the mind of the Woyane there is no logic (reason).
UN Offense No. 3: Its Call for an Arms Embargo on the Warring Parties
"To make matters worse, the Security Council chose on February 10, 1999, through Resolution 1227 to urge states to end sales of arms both of the aggressor and the victim while at the same time continuing to deliberate on how the peace proposal submitted by the Organization of African Unity, and already accepted by Ethiopia could be modified to make it acceptable to the aggressor at the expense of the victim."
The UN call for a voluntary arms embargo had angered the thugs in Makele and Mafia in Addis from the very beginning. In fact the TPLF minority government wasted no time to issue a statement of condemnation of the Security Council by way of its rubber stamp parliament. This was at the time the world was waiting for Ethiopia to accept Eritrea's offer of accepting the OAU Framework for Agreement. Talk about a rude and an anti-peace government.
We have to remember that UNSC Resolution 1227 came out after Ethiopia ignored the Council's call for restraint and launched an offensive on the Badme and on the Tserona Fronts on February 6 and 8, 1999 in that order. Of course as the world was a witness, Ethiopia's offensives were crushed. Who can forget the Geza Gherehelasse story and the way the Corriere della Sera put it? It was thus after these failed Ethiopian offensives that the UNSC Resolution 1227 passed.
What was/is all the rage and fury about arms embargo? What was/is the real reason? There could only be one reason. As Badme and Egri Makel could testify, Ethiopia's army cannot afford to fight a day's battle without loosing more than 50 tanks and a jet fighter or two. Yes that was the rate at which Ethiopia was loosing its tanks, helicopters and jet fighters to EDF's fire. This is the fact and this is the reason. At a rate of more than 50 tanks a day, the Woyane leaders know very well their tanks could not more than a seven-day battle. What about their jet fighters? May be a month. Thus if they are going to continue the fight, they have to buy weapons. A real arms' embargo would deny them this chance, and that is why they are fuming.
The IMF and EU's Offense: Calling for Peace
Should the IMF and EU be blamed for telling Ethiopia that they are unwilling to finance its war? Why would the EU, the IMF and World Bank have to pay for Ethiopia's adventure of expansionism? This was what TPLF leaders wanted. They had hoped for the West to finance the their war of aggression, to feed their starving population, and to provide them with a comfortable life in Addis so that they can throw lavish parties at the Finfinie (Filweha) Sheraton every weekend. The International Financial Institutions and donors said no to this unrealistic expectation and that is why Seyoum Mesfin is considering it a crime and barking at them with the following words:
"The punishment meted out has had almost no limits and it included changing the rules of the game in mid-stream by financial institutions this has been the experience of Ethiopia with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which suspended its cooperation with Ethiopia on political grounds. Once the tone was set by the Security Council others found it easy to overlook the injustice involved and added their weight behind a stance, which made a mockery of elementary justice. The European Union, other institutions and countries joined the bandwagon making it clear to Ethiopia that a poor nation is not entitled to defend itself."
What's Ethiopia's Reaction to all these UN Offenses? No Vote of Confidence in the UN
It has to be a practical joke or a Woyane style of diplomacy other wise a man who on June 9, 1998, at the 34th Session of the OAU, who was accusing Eritrea of failing to show "necessary respect and friendly disposition" towards its neighbors and close friends and as a result "has become not only an embarrassment to Africa but also a serious menace to peace and stability in our continent" wouldn't make a fool out of himself and be an embarrassment to the whole continent with the following words:
"In light of this experience, it is difficult to keep intact our trust in the United Nations and in international cooperation. It is also difficult to nurture faith in the efficacy of the UN collective security system. The UN cannot avoid sharing the blame for the bloodshed and destruction that followed the nine-month Eritrean intransigence. The Ethio-Eritrean crisis eventually led to fighting because the UN failed to speak in defense of principles of international law"
Who was an embarrassment and menace to peace? Hopefully by yesterday the world has now learned the truth about the nature of Ethiopia. Like Melles' AIDE MEMOIR in Ouagadougou Seyoum's October 1, 1999 speech at the UN was a total embarrassment.
What happened to Ethiopia's trust and respect for the UN? Why was it thrown overnight? Or was the trust there only because the UN was toeing along Ethiopia's line? Was the UN really responsible for what happened at Badme and Egri Makel (a place the Woyane mind love to forget)? No it was the Woyane's Greater Tigray dream that is responsible for all the blood shed. Them and them alone are to blame.
Finally let's look at what Seyoum, had told the OAU Council of Ministers on June 4, 1998
"It should not be overlooked, [that] Eritrea's arrogance and its disdain for Africa. has now reached a stage where Eritrea has become, not only a source of shame for Africa and for its neighbors, but also a menace to peace."
Shouldn't we say the same about Ethiopia's arrogance towards the OAU and the UN? Thanks to Seyoum Mesfin, yesterday, Ethiopia had exposed itself to the world that it is the real source of shame of Africa and menace to peace. Here is a country that prides itself as "uncolonized" nation, a founding member of the UN and the OAU, and yet on every index, be that of peaceful coexistence with neighbors, development or humanrights, it is rock bottom. This is what is a shame. There can not be any more shame than this.
As to the usual insults Seyoum hurled at Eritrea and its leaders it is not worthy of our response and I won't waste a pixel of my computer screen answering him. It is enough to say that unlike in Ethiopia where a minority government is imposing its will on the Ethiopian people, in Eritrea there is a government supported by all nationalities, both religions, all walks of life and Eritrean wherever they might be. Let Mr. Seyoum clean his tribalist mind and then we can talk which system of governance is better. Whether he and his gang like it or not, Eritrea is and will continue to be an oasis of justice and a becon of hope in contrust to Ethiopia's hopeless image. Let him mark our words; Eritreans we are people of work not of words.